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Chapter 4: Journey to China
Time Frame: Immediately following Chapter 1.
It was still dark, although the clock shows that it will only be moments before the sunlight starts streaming in. She looked at herself in the mirror and inspected her appearance again. She had tied up her hair and hidden it beneath a western hat, and she's wearing a western suit which had previously belonged to her father. It had taken a lot of work to alter it, but it now fits her nicely. She looked, in every aspect, just like a handsome young boy. She nodded to herself in satisfaction. She hadn't played at being a boy since she was 14, but it looked like she hasn't lost her touch yet. She shouldn't have any trouble deceiving everyone.
Enough of admiring yourself in the mirror, it's time to get started, Kaoru admonished herself. Picking up her luggage, Kaoru walked to the gates, before stopping to take a final look at the dojo. Remembering all the happy times, Kaoru struggled to control her tears before turning resolutely to walk away without a single backward glance.
Upon reaching Yokohama, she wrestled with the problem of finding a suitable candidate to deliver her letter to her friends. It can't be someone who's easy to trace because if anyone should question the deliverer, it would be easy to find out that she had disguised as a guy and had left for China. It took her 3 hours before she found the perfect candidate: a monk who was travelling all over the country. It is harder to locate someone when they are wandering, and besides, it's harder to distinguish a monk, since they all wear similar clothes, and this particular monk had a hat covering half his face. With luck, no one will look closely at him when he delivers the letters.
With that settled, Kaoru immediately went on to look for a ship that's travelling to China. Since she could speak Chinese perfectly (although she is a bit out of touch, having not spoken the language for almost 2 years, she could still converse without any problem), the Chinese ship-owners were more than willing to help her out, believing her to be a fellow countryman. She was soon on board the ship, on her way to China. "this is it, after this I'll never come back again, and will never see this again" thought Kaoru as she stood at the stern trying to catch the last sight of her country. "Farewell, my hometown, my friends. Farewell, Kamiya Kaoru…."
As she gradually lost sight of Japan, Kaoru sniffed once more before turning away, and then stopped to stare in awe of the sunset. It was magnificent! Streaks of purple against the blazing red background, with the moon slowly making it's way up. Kaoru couldn't help but be reminded of Kenshin. And she had to wonder at the irony that she should be seeing something so beautiful and so Kenshin-like on the day she leaves her country permanently. Perhaps it's a sign from the Gods that there is hope, that there is always hope in life as long as you don't give up. With that heartening thought, Kaoru squared her shoulders and thought resolutely, "That's right. Life goes on, and although Kamiya Kaoru shall cease to exist from this day on, I shall still live on! And who knows, maybe one day I'll be able to find happiness again! No, I will be happy, I'll do everything I can to be happy." And she walked towards her cabin, determined to find happiness, even if it is in a country far away from her hometown, from her heart……..
Author's note: yap, this is short, but the title itself told you it's only on her journey to China, and surely you won't expect me to give you a step-by-step account on every little thing that happened to her on the ship, do you? I'll be buried under mountains of rotten eggs and tomatoes before I'm even half done with the chapter! I tried to lengthen it, but found that I could not do so graciously. It ends up rather whining, and honestly speaking, it doesn't fit with my image of Kaoru. Sure she's emotional, but brainless weak bimbo she's not. But I promise next chapter would be longer: Kaoru reaches China and arrives at her cousin's place. There you'll have some hints and clues as to the family heirloom and curse. As usual, C&Cs are welcome. If anyone wants to send me hate/love mails, please do so at: chibibuta@hotmail.com . Oh by the way, I'm not very familiar with Chinese customs/culture etc, so if anyone could help up in this area, kindly contact me at the above address. Hints on what I need: a Chinese name for Kaoru, the costumes she wear, her lifestyle, etc. Once again, thanks ^_^